The fishhook-setting technique generally used by fishermen is a manual quick jerk of the fishing rod when a fish strikes (takes the baited hook or lure). This allows a quick, secure set of the hook, before the fish can spit it out or before the fish can deeply swallow it. If the fish is able to disengage from the hook, it escapes unhooked. If the hook becomes embedded in the stomach or gills, injury to the fish is increased—especially undesirable in catch-and-release fishing. Less injury occurs when the fish is hooked in the lip, jaw or cheek area, such as when the hook is set quickly.
However, at times the manual quick jerk hook-setting technique is undesirable or difficult. For instance, the fisherman may temporarily leave the rod unmanned, such as when using multiple rods, when stepping away momentarily, or when distracted. If the rod is unmanned, a tentative bite may not set the hook. The strike-setting assembly of the present invention enables an unmanned rod to quickly and efficiently set the hook, plus advantageously supplies a choice of trigger sensitivities for differing fishing environments, including locations, weather conditions, and sizes of fish.
The general idea of setting the hook with an automatic hook-setting device is known in the art. Some of the prior art hook-setting devices make use of a tether to bow the rod and a mechanical trigger to release the rod-bending cord. However, problems occur with the hook-setting devices of the prior art. These problems include awkward setup; multiple or unattached parts that can become separated and lost; relatively large size causing inconvenience in use, storage and transport; inconvenient attachment to the rod, thus interfering with retrieval of the fish from the water; lack of mechanical dependability; and lack of adjustability to match the fishing environment, thus resulting in lost fish. Some are incorporated into a proprietary fishing pole, thus precluding use with the fisherman's current set of poles.
Accordingly, there is an established need for an easy-to-set, highly adjustable, strike-setting assembly for use with an unmanned conventional fishing rod that enables a quick and efficient setting of the hook.